Mayor hosts swearing-in of 28 new citizens at City Hall ceremony

The last step in the difficult and years-long process of becoming a citizen, the naturalization ceremony is a happy time for participants and their families. During and after today’s ceremony, people waved American flags, posed for photos in front of the flag, and spoke with great feeling about their gratitude at being part of this country.

One new citizen specifically thanked Mayor Rothschild, noting that she had had to go through the process twice, and never could have done it without the resources she found through the mayor’s Citizenship Campaign.

Welcoming remarks

In November of last year, I announced that Tucson was joining 25 other cities and counties as part of Cities for Citizenship, promoting naturalization to eligible permanent residents.

Initially, our partners were Chicanos Por La Causa, Citi, Vantage West Credit Union, Pima Community College, the Pima County Library and USCIS, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Since then, more than 30 additional partners have joined in this effort.

You all know, because you’ve been through it, that becoming a naturalized citizen is not an easy process. We’ve tried to make it easier, with information about free English language and citizenship classes, and with loan programs to help with application fees and other expenses. If you have family or friends who want to become U.S. citizens, tell them to visit my website, mayorrothschild.com/citizen, or to contact my office and ask about my citizenship program.

Some of you have been here a long time. Many have not.

Our language, our customs, may be challenging—at times confusing.

I’m concerned, however, that this may be an especially confusing time for new citizens.

For generations, the United States has been known for certain values—American values. These values are being challenged as they have not been challenged for many, many years.

They include the belief in equality of opportunity—the ability to have access to a good education, an education that prepares you to get and keep a good job and prepares you for citizenship—an education that teaches you history and civics and gives you essential life skills, such as reading comprehension and critical thinking.

They include the belief in religious freedom—the freedom to belong to any religion, or not to belong to any religion.

They include the belief in freedom of speech, but they also include the responsibility not to use that freedom to lie. Lies have great potential to destroy—people and organizations, institutions and governments.

They include the belief in civil liberties—equal protection under the law—regardless of gender, race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age, or any other characteristic.

And they include the belief in the value of helping one another. We like to think of ourselves as independent, but we all depend on each other.

Citizenship in the United States comes with great responsibilities—including the responsibility to live by and protect these American values.

I often find that the people who have made the decision to become a U.S. citizen take the responsibilities that come with citizenship very seriously—and that’s great. In fact, that’s what we need.

You’ve all passed the citizenship test. But to me, every day is its own citizenship test. Every day, we have the opportunity to live up to the best of American values. Every day, we have the opportunity to protect these values when they come under attack. Every day, we have the opportunity to learn about our city, our state, our country. And every year, or two years, or four years, we have the opportunity to vote for the people we want to lead our government and protect these American values that we cherish.

I want to congratulate all of you for taking on the responsibility of becoming U.S. citizens, and I also want to congratulate our community. I believe Tucson is a better and stronger community because we welcome immigrants and refugees—people like you.

So again, congratulations, and thank you. Welcome to Tucson.

Closing remarks

Before, I welcomed you as immigrants and neighbors. Now, I welcome you as citizens.

I know you take this responsibility seriously. I know you’ll cast an informed vote in every election. How do you do that? You talk to other people, including people you disagree with. You read and listen to and watch reputable news organizations—and a variety of reputable news organizations. Not every organization that calls itself a news organization is reputable. But here are some that are: the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the PBS News Hour. Start there. And pay attention to local news, too. Read the newspaper. Watch TV news. Journalists are an essential part of our democracy. They are accountable for what they report, but when they meet the highest standards of their profession, they deserve our respect and our thanks.

Again, I’m delighted to welcome you to citizenship. Congratulations!

March 16, 2017

2017 State of the city—Tucson: a reliable partner (March 16, 2017)

“For a city to grow and prosper takes people and organizations working together in partnership toward common goals.

In my five years as mayor, I’ve been pleased to see our city government work in partnership with businesses and the community. The City of Tucson is a good partner, a reliable partner, as we’ve proven time and time again during my tenure as mayor.” Read speech

March 1, 2016

2016 State of the city—Investing in Tucson (March 1, 2016)

“Pride in our city is why we doubled funding to fight graffiti. It’s why Tucson Clean & Beautiful added to its Adopt-a-Mile and Adopt-a-Park programs. And, it’s why the Tucson Metro Chamber continued its First Impressions Project, improving medians on Tucson Blvd. from the airport to Valencia Blvd.

When you’re proud of something, you take care of it. You invest in it—both time and money. And, you get a return on that investment.” Read speech

December 7, 2015

Mayor Rothschild calls for focus on fundamentals in inaugural address

Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild was sworn in for his second term in office today by his father, attorney Lowell Rothschild. After a brief swearing-in ceremony and council meeting, the mayor and council members attended an inaugural luncheon at the Tucson Convention Center, where Mayor Rothschild outlined priorities for his second term in office. Text of the mayor’s prepared remarks is below.

Being sworn in by his father, attorney Lowell Rothschild, while the mayor’s wife, Karen, looks on, December 2015

Inaugural remarks, December 7, 2015

Good afternoon. Thank you for coming. Congratulations to my colleagues on the council, and thank you for your help and support over the last four years.

I’d like to begin by thanking my parents, my wife, my family. Your love and support are everything.

I want to thank my campaign staff: chairperson Dr. Laura Elias de la Torre, treasurer Rebecca Wicker, manager Pat Burns, consultant Adam Kinsey, and everyone who gave money or time. Even without an opponent on the ballot, there’s still a lot of work involved in campaigning. Thank you.

And I want to thank my office staff, and city staff – particularly some of the people I work most closely with: City Manager Mike Ortega, City Attorney Mike Rankin, and City Clerk Roger Randolph – for your professionalism and dedication.

Sometimes I’m asked, “Why would anyone run for office?” Usually that happens after the person has experienced call to the audience – the live equivalent of an online comment section.

Everyone has their own answer to that question. For me, I love Tucson. I grew up here. I decided to run because, when I looked around, I saw things I didn’t like, things I wanted to help fix.

I had heard the complaints about Tucson. Once I became mayor, I learned that, while some complaints had merit, many did not – and some were based on information that was decades old.

My approach is: where change is needed, work to make change happen.

And we have made change happen – in our roads, our downtown, our relations with Mexico, and many other areas.

For years – and it’s still going on today – the state took our road repair money and used it to balance its own budget. So, we took matters into our own hands and passed Prop. 409, the hundred-million-dollar streets bond. Our major streets are looking better and better, as work gets done ahead of schedule and under budget.

In the past, other Arizona cities used incentives to revitalize their downtown. Now, Tucson is doing the same, with great results. We have a downtown grocery, market-rate housing and mixed-use development. We’ve selected a developer for the Ronstadt Transit Center and, in just a few weeks, construction is set to begin at the downtown AC Hotel by Marriott – one of three pending downtown- and university-area hotels.

And finally, after years of hateful rhetoric coming from some Arizona politicians, Tucson led the way in repairing relations with our largest trading partner. I’ve taken delegations to Mexico on trade missions and hosted visiting delegations here in Tucson. Next month, I’ll host my second Borderlands Trade Conference – this time, focused on the Arizona-Sonora manufacturing supply chain.

This city has made visible progress in many areas over the past four years – far more than just these three examples. Taken together, these accomplishments have helped renew both civic pride and trust in city government.

I like to say, “We’ve gone after the low-hanging fruit.” Now, we have to get out the ladder, and move higher up the tree. In other words, things won’t be as easy going forward. In fact, while the city itself is doing much better, over the next several years, city government will face some major challenges.

The simple fact is, we cannot continue to meet existing obligations or maintain service levels without looking at all options for increasing revenue.

Among those options are the financial charter changes we put on hold last year because the county was running its bond issues. That can’t wait any longer. Today – and certainly over the next several years – the city’s need to invest in fundamental infrastructure and basic services far outweighs any list of discretionary projects that might be nice to have in the future. Today, we must focus on the fundamentals of government in providing basic city services.

Over the past four years, the city has done its part – time and again – to show that it can responsibly manage resources and deliver outstanding results. Restoring more than 900 lane miles of city streets, renovating the TCC arena, recharging the millionth acre-foot of CAP water, building the Advanced Oxidation Process water treatment facility, storing Phoenix water in our wellfield, and building the streetcar line – these are large, complex, public works, and city staff have executed them very well.

Tucson may feel like a small town, and I hope it always does, in many respects. But we are a large city – the 32nd largest city in the United States. We are a great city, founded in 1775, a year before the Declaration of Independence.

To be a city where our children want to stay, and can stay, we need to invest in ourselves. In infrastructure that benefits everyone. In essential services, like police and fire, parks, roads, and public transportation, that benefit everyone.

These are choices the council will make, and city voters will make – choices that will have consequences for years to come.

Thank you for helping move Tucson forward over the last four years. Thank you for your support and help over the next four years. It’s an honor to serve as your mayor. Thank you.

March 6, 2015

2015 State of the city—Turning opportunity into results (March 6, 2015)

Delivering the 2015 State of the City Address, March 2015

“This is my fourth State of the City Address. I’ve talked about making Tucson work – and we are:
ending the Rio Nuevo dispute, creating the city’s Economic Initiatives Office, and streamlining
processes at Planning & Development Services.

I’ve talked about doing more together than alone – and we are: partnering with business,
government, and nonprofits to open swimming pools, increase our water security, and end
veteran homelessness.

I’ve talked about Tucson in transition – and we are: moving from the Five C’s to the Five T’s of
technology, trade, transportation, tourism, and teaching, and coming together as a community
to lay the groundwork for growth in each of these areas.

2014 State of the city—Tucson in transition (February 26, 2014)

Delivering the 2014 State of the City Address, February 2014

“Two years ago, I came before you and spoke of making Tucson work. We’ve made great strides. Last year, I spoke of how we do more together than alone. Today, you’ve heard specific examples of public-private partnerships. Whether it’s ending veteran homelessness, increasing childhood literacy, restoring Tucson’s tree canopy or creating a vibrant downtown, public-private partnerships are a model that works.” Read speech

February 19, 2013

2013 State of the city—We do more together than alone (February 19, 2013)

Delivering the 2013 State of the City Address, February 2013

“To recapture the $70 million or more we lose in state-shared revenue every year, we must become an incorporated valley. Those dollars are our roads. Those dollars are our parks. Those dollars are our police and fire departments. I like our friends in Maricopa County as well as the next guy, but it is time we stopped building their roads, their parks, and their police and fire departments with our tax dollars.” Read speech